Utah Heritage Foundation

As you may know, what is being dubbed the Hub District has long been known as the Warehouse District.  That name even dates back to before The Gateway was even a thought!  The Hub District, an area with SL Central Station (formerly known as the Intermodal Hub) has been going through a planning process to give agency and government officials ideas as to what the future should look like.

As described by Envision Utah, the Depot District is one of six key locations identified in the Wasatch Choice for 2040 (WC2040). WC2040 is the land-use and transportation “Vision” for Salt Lake, Weber, Davis and Utah Counties, developed by elected officials and the public to improve our quality of life as our region experiences dramatic growth.  Implementing the Vision will allow us to absorb a 65% population growth (1.4 million additional residents) over the next 30 years, while enhancing our economy, protecting our beautiful natural areas, providing more housing and transportation choices, saving money and energy, and improving our air quality and health.

Utah Heritage Foundation has officially provided their support for the upcoming bond to save and rehabilitate Granite High School in South Salt Lake.  This would be a fabulous project that not only conserves an important historic structure, but could provide much needed flexible community space in the center of the valley.

Please join us to help inform voters in your neighborhood about the important Granite Bond election on November 8th. The City of South Salt Lake has proposed a $25 million bond to purchase former Granite High School and upgrade the campus into a community park, recreation center, arts center and public charter school. City residents are asked to vote to fund this project or not. This will be the only opportunity for the city to do so and the only way for your voice to be heard is to vote. We need your help informing voters!

Proposed Development Plan for Pleasant Grove Civic Center

Position Statement 

September 2, 2011

In the April 2011 Community Newsletter produced by the University of Utah, among the campus projects announced was the pending demolition of Carlson Hall.  This is the first time the long-rumored new building for the U of U Law School has been publicly announced to be on the site of the historic women's residence hall turned classroom building.

Located on one of the most prominently seen sites on campus (corner of University Street @ 400 South), this structure completed in 1938, was designed by prominent SLC architects Ashton & Evans and built with WPA funds.  Carlson Hall was named after August Carlson who bequested $121,519.22 to the university upon his death.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and also served as classrooms for numerous departments, mostly recently Math and Humanities.  It may not only be a target due to its prominent location on campus and proximity to the current Quinney Law School building, but also due to its understated architectual style which was prominently used at the time of construction.  Buildings of this type were not ostentious and the public would not supported that type of building in an era of going without meeting basic needs which led to being fiscally astute.

While historic preservation has played a prominent role on President's Circle where the majority of the oldest structures exist, it's unfortunate that a university that pledges to be concerned about sustainability and green building principles cannot see how conserving an entire building supports that policy and implement a campus-wide policy for historic preservation and rehabilitation.  It's left up to each individual school or college and its Dean with nearly carte blanche acceptance of whatever they dictate as long as the financial bottom line is met.  In my experience, only federal judges may have more power to dictate building projects.

SB 243 Substitute – Historic Areas or Sites Amendments

If you’ve been keeping up with our advocacy alerts, you may already realize that Senate Bill 243 has morphed several times during the session, leading preservationists across the state from one confusing proposal to another.  Each time it changed though, similar questions arose time and time again:  Isn’t this only about Yalecrest?  Does the bill only affect Yalecrest?  Can you get it only to affect Yalecrest?

At the end of the day, the bill was narrowed such that it directly affected the Yalecrest Neighborhood during a one-year moratorium period.  From the wide ranging scope that SB 243 started with, the result that was arrived at by sponsor Sen. Niederhauser (R-Sandy) is likely the least impactful possible.

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Ogden’s time as the railroad hub was in its infancy when the first train pulled into town in 1869.  But business owners were already crafting ways to capitalize on this very new and exciting time to make money.  Allen Joseph Stout, Jr., a nephew of Hosea Stout, an early Utah settler and general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was in his early 20s and ready to jump on the railroad’s success.

In c. 1870, Stout started a saloon simply called, Stout’s Saloon, on lower 25^th Street.  This was a time before hotels, businesses, and taverns filled the street.  Stout’s business venture is significant today for two reasons.  First, it was an early tavern on 25^th Street, whereas others before it were located at the depot or on Main St. (now Washington Blvd.).  We now associate 25^th Street more with the history of taverns than other streets, which should be linked back to Stout.  Second, Stout’s Saloon was one of earliest of the many Mormon-owned saloons along 25^th Street during the nineteenth century.  As Ogden historian Val Holley notes, there was no “firewall” between Mormon and gentile business interests in the business district during that time.  Everyone had equal access to making money.

The September 18, 1876, Ogden Junction reported that the saloon kept by A.J. Stout had been damaged by a fire, and referred to “sneaking incendiaries who, under cover of darkness, set fires to burn up the property of citizens of Ogden.”  How unfortunate!

Preservation moratorium proposed at the local level

Senate Bill 243, Historic Areas or Sites Amendment, was released with text on Monday, February 7, 2011.  In brief, the bill proposes a year-long moratorium on designations, expenditures, and development agreements that involve historic structures at the city and county level beginning on May 10, 2011.  Utah Heritage Foundation believes that this bill has the ability to stop or seriously curtail preservation activities statewide at the local level - just at the time when policies are needed that encourage economic development through historic preservation and boost our economy.

Senate Bill 243 - Historic Areas or Sites Amendment